Month: April 2011

Starbucks coffee is INEXPENSIVE

On By Rick McIn food, product endorsements1 Comment

#Starbucks

Katie Couric recently interviewed Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on CBS Sunday Morning and asked him if he thought the company had a “tin ear” to what people were going through with the recession. Perhaps, she suggested, they couldn’t afford to pay “$5 on their coffee every day.” Schultz’s response was to laugh. You see, Starbucks coffee only costs $1.50. …

Consumerist

The Starbucks CEO was widely mocked for that quote. But fact is, … he’s right.

IF you buy a Starbucks card …

IF you drink the cheap stuff, Pike’s filter coffee …

… then Starbucks is not much more expensive than McDonald’s coffee.

IF you want a refill …

… it’s FREE for me in Canada. $.50 for me in some other nations.

At Tim Horton’s in Canada refills are full price.

I love Starbucks, especially their reliable, high speed free WiFi.

how to tweet the Canadian election

On By Rick McIn government, product complaints1 Comment

Warren pointed out how backward and dense are bureaucrats responsible for Canadian election results:

Facebook and Twitter users are being advised by Elections Canada to use caution on election day when communicating and posting voting results on May 2.

In every vote, strict rules prevent any instance of what Elections Canada calls “premature transmission of results” until the last polls have closed in every electoral district in the country.

“No person shall transmit the result or purported result of the vote in an electoral district to the public in another electoral district before the close of all of the polling stations in that other electoral district,” Elections Canada says on its website. …

read more on CBC

They aren’t savvy enough to synchronize the election over all time zones. Nor even to withhold results in Newfoundland until after the polls close on Vancouver Island.

Perhaps if we paid higher taxes we could offer more attractive government union salaries and attract smarter employees … who might correct this problem.

Since it’s not allowed, you won’t need any of these …

Glossary of Canadian Politics/2011 Canada Federal Election Twitter Hash Tags

Note: #cdnpoli, #elxn41 and #cv11 are (in my observation) by far the most popular English-language Twitter hash tags for the 2011 Federal Election.

#canpoli Canadian politics
#cdescom French-Canadian political discussion
#cdnleft Canadian left
#cdnpoli Canadian politics
#clsh Conservative leader Stephen Harper
#cpc Conservative Party of Canada
#ctvelexn CTV election coverage
#cv11 Canada vote 2011
#demreform Canadian democratic reform
#elxn41 41st Canadian federal election
#emayin Social media campaign to get Green Party leader Elizabeth May a place in the leadership debate
#fed2011 French-language Canadian election tweets
#gpc Green Party of Canada
#ignatieff Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff
#layton NDP Leader Jack Layton
#lpc Liberal Party of Canada
#momthevote Discussion of family-related election issues
#ndp New Democratic Party of Canada
#p2ca Progressives in Canada
#pmharper Prime Minister Stephen Harper
#pmsh Prime Minister Stephen Harper
#poli politics — append it to another term to localize it, eg, #niagpoli (Niagara), #canpoli (Canada)
#ppca Pirate Party of Canada
#ptndp New Democrats
#pttory Canadian Tories
#roft Right of Twitter (Canadian Conservative bloggers)
#votecompass CBC Vote Compass
#votemay2 Vote on May 2nd
#votepirate Vote Pirate Party of Canada

David Rattigan

Google finally downranks eHow

On By Rick McIn product complaints1 Comment

Google on Thursday announced a change to its search algorithm that reduces rankings for low-quality sites.

The changes, implemented in the last few days, impacts about 11.8 percent of Google’s queries,

… low-quality sites as those that are a “low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful.” …

Often cited as a ‘content farm‘ is eHow. (I’ve blocked that domain from my search results.)

Why does the parent company of eHow, Demand Media, make as much revenue as The New York Times?

Click on the infographic below to find out.

Demand Media Breaking the Bank
[Source: OnlineMBA.com]

Hey Kate … that’s $15 / article. … Just sayin’

survived the KFC Double Down

On By Rick McIn food, humourLeave a comment

As you recall, the KFC Double Down sandwich was ruled a ‘crime against humanity’ in the Hague.

Forcing someone to eat one is now considered a War Crime.

They are SO illegal that Barry Bonds denies ever eating one.

… yet in Cleveland I was able to purchase one under the counter. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

Apparently some rogue KFC franchises are still carrying them.

related post – KFC – Quadruple Down sandwich

disappointed by Greg Mortenson

On By Rick McIn books, product complaintsLeave a comment

If you saw the 60 Minutes piece (VIDEO) on author Greg Mortenson, you’ll be saddened and disappointed too.

… Krakauer, and others, say that Mortenson has embellished some of the details of his story to make them sound more dramatic and impressive. That some of the things he claims happened to him in his books are, at best, stretches of the truth, and at worst, outright fabrications.

There are even some indications that the funds that are raised by CAI are not being spent properly and that the organization lacks transparency in how it operates. …

I’m not at all convinced by Greg’s response to the charge as published by Outside – Greg Mortenson Speaks

Greg Mortenson is finished. What a setback to a great cause.

(via The Adventure Blog)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

On By Rick McIn music, travel1 Comment

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio …

It’s pretty cool. I am impressed.

… The main criticism of the Hall of Fame is that the nomination process is controlled by a few individuals who are not musicians, such as founder Jann Wenner …

Jann always hated my University Archies tribute band. It had something to do with our name: “Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame“.

You won’t find us on the List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

Rockin’s sea monkey poem

On By Rick McIn friends1 Comment

Looking for symbolism
in my pet sea monkeys
what a joke
there isn’t any
they’re just animals
they live
and die
i tried picking one up
to look at it and crushed it
they are small
all the same
the package said
they were amazing
that i could train them
feed them
the pictures on the package
i got them in
made them look
almost human
they didn’t look
like the sea monkeys
at all
they drew them like that
just so people
would buy them

ron shewchuk

click for larger version

Ron’s first published writing. It’s from a 1973-74 Language Arts option at Viscount Bennett High School. Teacher Ms Gloria Dalton.

Sea-Monkeys is the brand name for brine shrimp sold in hatching kits as novelty aquarium pets in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom since 1960. …

They are sold under the title “The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys Ocean-Zoo”. …

related – Sea Monkey Mania

Thank-you Obama and Ryan

On By Rick McIn economics, government2 Comments

Finally somebody in power is talking about the debt and deficit.

The proposals of Paul Ryan and Barack Obama are both ludicrous, but it’s a start.

Of the two disingenuous plans, Ryan’s is even worse. Claiming that giving a trillion dollars to the rich because they are “job creators” is as credible as President Donald Trump.

If you give a rich person money, what guarantee do you have that they will create a job?

Can’t Ryan imagine a more efficient way to create jobs with a trillion dollars than to give it to a rich man or company?

… Republicans are still shoveling as much tax money to their rich friends as they can, but there’s not much left in the government coffers.